Saturday was the first time he had finished out of the first two over fences, but he was still only half a length behind the much-heralded Boston Bob.

Culloty is convinced that his charge will benefit from a step up in trip and the chance to race on a decent surface.

"He's come out of his race very well and we're preparing him for Cheltenham now," said Culloty.

"He made a very bad mistake early on, he literally broke a fence, and you don't tend to win Grade Ones after doing that so to get so close was a great effort.

"He's never run a bad race over fences yet and we're waiting to step him up in trip on some nice ground.

"To say he was half a length behind Boston Bob, and he's one of the favourites, must give us a little chance. Although the price our lad is might have something to do with the fact he's trained by Jim Culloty and not Willie Mullins!"